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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23502091">Whisper to a Roar</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flexi/pseuds/Flexi'>Flexi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Blake Belladonna Didn't Leave The White Fang, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, F/M, Maybe a bit of graphic violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Painkillers, White Fang, Yang is a Bounty Hunter, bounty hunter AU</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 11:02:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23502091</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flexi/pseuds/Flexi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang Xiao Long is a 23-year-old bounty hunter working for the Atlas Military. General Ironwood, her supervisor, has assigned her a high-stakes mission: to hunt down and neutralize Adam Taurus. Meanwhile, Blake Belladonna hasn't left the White Fang, and is doing her very best to keep Yang from apprehending her lover. Tensions are high as Yang scours Kuo Kuana for Adam, with only 9 days to bring him to justice.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Blake Belladonna/Adam Taurus, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Bumbleby - Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Whisper to a Roar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Yang Xiao Long pulled into an alleyway, dismounting her motorbike and propping it up against the wall. She unzipped her leather jacket further, sweltering in Kuo Kuana’s humid heat, as she strode confidently to the front of the line that had formed in front of the club.</p><p>“Moka!” Yang smiled as the bouncer turned to face her.</p><p>“...Yang.” The tall ram faunus shifted uncomfortably, crossing his arms across his broad chest.</p><p>“How have you been? We haven’t talked in ages!” Yang folded her sunglasses and tucked them into her collar.</p><p>“What do you want? I have a job to do here,” he checked an ID card and waved a pair of faunus through.</p><p>“Well that’s rude,” Yang laughed, “Listen, Moka, buddy. Remember back in Mistral?”</p><p>The ram faunus glared at her.</p><p>“Anyways,” she continued, “I’d like to cash in that favor. Let me in, no questions asked.”</p><p>“But what--”</p><p>“Hey! No questions asked, remember?”</p><p>“Head on in,” the disgruntled bouncer let her through with a heavy sigh.</p><p>“Thanks, buddy,” Yang grinned, popping her collar and walking into the club. The lights were flashing and the crappy dance pop that had been plaguing Remnant’s airwaves all summer was playing too loud for anyone’s comfort. The room was dark, and Yang cut across the crowded dance floor, moving towards the bar. She scanned the bar for a moment before her eyes locked onto one figure. She smirked and walked closer.</p><p>“Strawberry Sunrise with no ice, thanks,” Yang told the bartender as she took a seat next to a short, bull-horned faunus, “Enjoying the music?”</p><p>The man turned to her, “Not really.”</p><p>Before he could turn back to his drink, Yang laughed, “Me neither, I just come here for the drinks. How about you, come here often?”</p><p>The faunus’ eyes narrowed, “Why do you keep askin’ so many questions? Can’t a man drink in peace?”</p><p>Yang caught her drink as the bartender slid it across the bar, without looking away from the man in front of her, “Are you Ilo Kalili?”</p><p>“Never heard of him,” the man’s fingers tightened on the side of his stool.</p><p>A grin blossomed across Yang’s face, “Ilo, you have got to work on your lying skills.”</p><p> </p><p>---&amp;---</p><p> </p><p>Yang slammed the back door of the club open and dashed out into the alley. She chuckled as the stout faunus tried to escape. In a singular, swift movement, Yang mounted Bumblebee and turned the key in the ignition.</p><p>Ilo looked back with a grimace as the growl of the motorcycle’s engine grew louder. He turned back around to see a brick wall-- the alley was a dead end.</p><p>“Shit, shit, SHIT!” The faunus turned and drew a small pistol from his coat. Before he could fire a shot, the weapon was knocked from his hand with a loud blast.</p><p>Yang smirked, blowing a trail of smoke from Ember Celica’s barrel and hopping down from her bike’s seat, “Ilo Kalili, you are under arrest for aiding in the terrorist activities of the White Fang. Now, come quietly, and I won’t have to make this any--”</p><p>The hairs on the back of Yang’s neck stood on end. In a split second, she turned, bringing up her gauntlets to deflect a blade swinging towards her head. A young cat faunus jumped back, raising the sword to ready herself for Yang’s riposte.</p><p>The girl couldn’t have been more than 17, Yang thought, quickly looking her opponent over. She had waves of black hair that fell down to her waist, and she wore a black vest, with a white, sleeveless top underneath, and a pair of white shorts with zippers at the sides over black stockings. Black ribbons were wrapped around her forearms, and her face was concealed by a signature white mask-- she was with the White Fang, no doubt.</p><p>Yang jumped forward, aiming a sharp blow at the girl’s neck. The faunus stepped out of the way, twirling around and slashing at Yang’s thigh. With two blasts from her gauntlets, Yang launched herself backwards and dodged out of the way of her opponent’s blade.</p><p><em> Damn, she’s good, </em> Yang thought, deflecting another flurry of cuts. Suddenly, the girl brought her leg up in a roundhouse kick, making heavy contact with the side of Yang’s head and almost sending her to the floor.</p><p>A high-pitched whine echoed through Yang’s ears, her skull aching from the blow. She staggered back, breathing hard through her nose. She looked up towards the girl, who lowered into a defensive stance.</p><p>“That’s enough!” Yang’s eyes flashed red as her hair began to glow with a fiery light. She leapt at the faunus, slamming her fists against the girl’s sheathed sword, which she had raised to protect herself. Suddenly, her strikes were hitting nothing-- the faunus turned spectral and flickered, disappearing with a final blow.</p><p>A flash of movement in her peripherals caught Yang’s attention, she turned to see the faunus leaping up to the roof of a nearby building.</p><p>“Oh no you don’t!” Yang yelled, her semblance still wreathing her head in golden flames as she used three shots from Ember Celica to fly into the air, landing hard on the roof. Her opponent had a lead of at least forty-five feet on her, making acrobatic bounds across Kuo Kuana’s rooftops. Yang barrelled across the roofs, firing potshots at the girl.</p><p>The faunus stopped, looking out over the city, facing away from Yang. With a flare of anger, Yang charged towards her. Thirty, twenty, fifteen feet away. Yang pushed off of the edge of a roof, bringing her fist back to strike the girl full-force between the shoulder blades.</p><p>Without warning, a hook grabbed Yang’s ankle midair, throwing her off-balance and sending her into a free-fall into the street below. As she hit the ground, Yang looked up with a snarl to see the girl standing on the same roof where she had been seconds ago. Silently, the faunus jumped to the next rooftop and disappeared.</p><p>Yang pushed herself to her feet, her aura flickering. She was lucky that her aura had shielded her from most of the fall, her ankle wasn’t sprained, but the pulsing pain wasn’t pleasant by anyone’s standards.</p><p>She pulled a clicker from her pocket and pressed the button twice, limping to the curb as Bumblebee came to a halt in front of her. She swung her leg over the bike and revved the engine, aching from the night’s fight.</p><p> </p><p>---&amp;---</p><p> </p><p>Yang slid the chain on her hotel room’s door into place and walked stiffly to the minifridge. Pulling out yesterday’s takeout, she grabbed a pair of disposable chopsticks and a can of flat soda before stumping over to the bed and collapsing with a groan. The bounty hunter snatched a bottle of ibuprofen from the bedside table, emptying a couple of pills into her palm and washing it back with a swig of berry-flavored goodness. She kicked off her shoes and swung her legs up onto the comforter.</p><p>She pulled the lid off of her lo mein, flipping through TV channels with one hand and shoveling noodles into her mouth with the other. Eventually, she settled on an over-the-top soap opera, and blankly stared at the screen while she reflected on the fight.</p><p>She knew that she shouldn’t have let her anger take hold of her, that had been stupid. And she might have still been able to catch Ilo if she hadn’t chased the girl. She sank further into her pillows and looked at the ceiling. Who was that girl?</p><p>Yang stewed in her thoughts as the fish faunus on screen proclaimed her undying love to a tall, dark-haired man with wolf ears. She almost laughed at the terrible acting when the man told his <em> amor </em> that it could never be-- his parents wouldn’t let them be together.</p><p>As the fish-tailed girl began to weep, a ding came from Yang’s scroll. She picked it up: <em> 1 new message from Ruby Rose </em>.</p><p>Yang punched in her PIN and read the text:</p><p> </p><p>Ruby</p><p>
  <em> Heeeey </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yang chuckled, against her better intuition.</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>
  <em> What’s up? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruby</p><p>
  <em> I was gonna ask you the same thing :o </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>
  <em> Well I asked first </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruby</p><p>
  <em> Not much… Patch has nothing on Menagerie I bet </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>
  <em> Hehe yep </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruby</p><p>
  <em> Ughhh lucky, I could really go for a beach vacation rn </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>
  <em> There are plenty of beaches here, but I’m not on vacation lol </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruby</p><p>
  <em> How’s work? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>
  <em> Classified lmao </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruby</p><p>
  <em> Meanieeeeee </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>¯\_(ツ)_/¯</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>
  <em> How’s dad? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ruby</p><p>
  <em> He’s good, still teaching at Signal like always, Zwei misses you!!!! </em>
</p><p>(A blurry picture of their dog rushing towards the camera was attached)</p><p> </p><p>Yang</p><p>&lt;3 &lt;3 &lt;3</p><p> </p><p>Yang’s eyelids grew heavy as the conversation progressed. Finally, she fell asleep on top of the blankets, and lapsed into a deep sleep punctuated by dreams that always seemed to come back to one thing-- that girl with the black hair.</p><p> </p><p>---&amp;---</p><p> </p><p>Yang woke to the screech of her alarm. The bounty hunter fumbled for her scroll and shut off the jarring sound, lying in bed for a minute before slowly sitting up and swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She stared at the new message on her screen, <em>A reminder that you have 9 day(s) remaining to apprehend the White Fang radical Adam Taurus</em>.</p><p>She stumbled to the bathroom and looked blearily at her reflection in the mirror. <span>She almost turned away when a new feature caught her eye-- a small scar on her cheek. It was thin, nothing really. She had suffered worse, but that bitch had </span><em><span>scratched her</span></em><span>. Her eyes flickered red for a moment: there would be hell to pay for this.</span> Pulling off yesterday’s clothes, Yang clambered into the shower and scrubbed away the sweat before dumping the entire contents of the travel-sized shampoo bottle into her palm and lathering it into her scalp. Wrapping a towel around herself, Yang went about her routine, brushing her teeth, putting on clean clothes, and doing some routine maintenance on Ember Cecila.</p><p>Finally, Yang locked her room’s door behind her and attached the “do not disturb” sign to the doorknob. She pushed the hotel doors open, stepped out into the bright morning light and swung her leg over Bumblebee. Yang rode into Kuo Kuana’s streets in search of coffee and information about a certain black-haired faunus.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>ohoho this is gonna be a good one methinks.</p><p>I thought this fic up while bored out of my mind in quarantine and binging RWBY, and it was inspired by a specific piece of fanart that I found on Pinterest (nothing too saucy, but it was some fun Bumblebee stuff).</p><p>Tbh I'm not sure what's up with Ruby? Team RWBY isn't a thing in this fic, so I think Ruby is still at Signal at this time. I know that doesn't work with the canon age difference between Yang and Ruby but I do what I want lmao. </p><p>I have no idea how many chapters this will be but I'm gonna say probably no more than 10? I've never really written a fic this long but hell, I have plenty of time right now. This is going to be a Bumblebee fic. I don't want to hear your opinions about whether or not Bumblebee was forced, I like it so I'm going to write a fic about it. If you don't like it, go read something else.</p><p>(Also yeah I stole the title from Armed and Ready, I suck at titles don't judge me lmao)</p><p>Lots of Love,</p><p>~Flexi</p></blockquote></div></div>
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